Creating files/folders for devices, now, at least, I know why so many folders (like cdrom and cdrom1) are empty - the folders are "place holders" - in essence - for the device to "push its data" into? (is that a correct terminology?) Is this how Linux is setup? Using folders to contain destinations for devices when they are mounted? ( if it is, I think I am starting to get the hang of this OS )
Yeah, this is pretty much exactly it.

Those empty folders - the "place holders" - are what I would refer to as a mount point. And then the filesystems are, well, "mounted" on the mount point.

This is the mechanism used by UNIX, and all the derivates such as Linux, BSD etc.